Metabolic rate evolves rapidly and in parallel with the pace of life history

Sonya K. Auer (), Cynthia A. Dick, Neil B. Metcalfe and David N. Reznick
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Sonya K. Auer: University of Glasgow
Cynthia A. Dick: University of California-Riverside
Neil B. Metcalfe: University of Glasgow
David N. Reznick: University of California-Riverside

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract Metabolic rates and life history strategies are both thought to set the “pace of life”, but whether they evolve in tandem is not well understood. Here, using a common garden experiment that compares replicate paired populations, we show that Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata) populations that evolved a fast-paced life history in high-predation environments have consistently higher metabolic rates than guppies that evolved a slow-paced life history in low-predation environments. Furthermore, by transplanting guppies from high- to low-predation environments, we show that metabolic rate evolves in parallel with the pace of life history, at a rapid rate, and in the same direction as found for naturally occurring populations. Together, these multiple lines of inference provide evidence for a tight evolutionary coupling between metabolism and the pace of life history.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02514-z

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